'It's not why you came, but it's why you stayed'....

'Peruvian Food - It's not why you came, but it's why you stayed.' I can't get this quote from the Expat Peru website out of my head.  It should be noted that most expats live in Lima.  And Lima is a large city with many different food options. 

Food is regional, anywhere.  But with a 20 hour, dangerous car ride to Lima on the only road out of town - there isn't a huge amount of import/export going on.  To generalize the food in Peru would be a little like saying that New Orleans and Anchorage have the same options, but more dramatic. 


So I'll speak to my experience with food in the Amazon region.  Basically the things in abundance here are fish and fruit so a lot of the cuisine revolves around that.  Many dishes are also starch heavy because starches are inexpensive and available.  There is a lot of yuca, rice and of course, potatoes.  In fact, Peruvians are quite proud of their potatoes and the variety is unmatched and dates back to before the Incas.

We handcuff ourselves a bit with choice.  We only eat chicken and fish for meat here, but those are readily available and the most common.  We have deemed beef and pork are too risky for us.  And some of the fruit and vegetable prep makes me nervous - as the sickest I've ever been was 6 years ago in Peru from the food.  Because the water is so contaminated you have to be very careful about any fruit or vegetable that you do not peel.   We do eat green beans, broccoli and tomatoes but I always feel the most comfortable when I'm eating peeled things like carrots or avocados.

Thankfully we have Edith and that provides us with a lot of peace of mind about food preparation.  A little ironic that as I type this Edith is sick from food poisoning from some ceviche she ate downtown.  We have been remarkably lucky in this regard (the sound you hear is me knocking on wood).  We have had a few little minor tummy aches but no full blown food poisoning, which is huge.  Particularly with the less discerning kiddos.

We benefit from Edith's fresh squeezed juice every day.  With the overabundance of fruit trees, this is the most common way to stay hydrated.  (I won't talk about all the Inka Cola and Coke people drink because I was talking about being hydrated. ;))  With the incredible heat, hydration is very important.  There is a juice stand on every corner and many points between.   I admit to not frequenting those and not because I mind sharing a glass someone else has used, I'm just still nervous about the water.  Many times the prep is just squeezing the fruit - like orange, lime, etc.  But other times the prep involves peeling and boiling the fruit first. It may be irrational but if one drop of water was not boiled or was used in the washing of something (and not dried) it is possible to get sick.  I'm taking the better safe than sorry approach here.  Popular fruit drink choices are camu camu, pineapple, cocona, papaya, passion fruit, gaunabana.  Chicha morada is a drink we're often served at birthday parties which is a dark purple from purple corn and has cinnamon, cloves and pineapple. 

Edith also cooks well and we enjoy her guiso (chicken, potato, carrot stew), fried chicken/fish and pasta dishes.  She usually cooks a big lunch and then we have the leftovers for dinner.  Dinner is a less significant meal here and we have adapted to that now.  And it works.

A meal prepared by Edith (beet/potato salad, rice, plantain, fried chicken)

A typical middle class meal - rice, beans and a grilled fish - the WHOLE fish

An appetizer including ham, shaved  palm heart, yuca

Plenty of delicious avocado

Juanes - a typical amazonian meal. It is rice, chicken, egg, olive.  This one has had the banana leaves removed.

Great grilled chicken and papas

Smorgasbord of typical Amazon region dishes

Very common to purchase food off the street like this

Brace yourself - fried boa (uh, no i didn't try it but david and felix did)

David's student Gerardo eating fried cayman (similar to crocodile)

My only real confusion lies with the mangoes.  They are literally dripping off every other tree here by the hundreds.  I would think there would be mango in Everything - mango smoothies, mango alcoholic drinks, mango ice cream, mango salsa.  I'll have to do some research and figure that one out.  People do eat the fruit and are many times looking to give away mangoes as they will just rot in their yard.  But why there isn't more emphasis on mangoes is a little mysterious to me - perhaps just too many good fruits to choose from.  A good problem to have.

Felixia

Felix has become quite a parrot. Well, actually Felix has gone beyond parroting to invent his own version of Spanish we call Felixia. Felixia staples include useful words and phrases like:
Guaca..MA..yo (macaw)
¿No sé? (i don't know or you don't know?)
gusto teta (i want my milk)
No gusto, no gusto eso (i don't like, i don't like this)
miso (permiso) (excuse me)
A ver (to see)
¿Pór que? (why)
¡Saltar agua! (jump in the water, i.e. go swimming)
Niños sí (children yes, i.e. we have school today)
Niños no (children no, i.e. no school today)
Helado (ice cream)
¡Grande! (big!)
¡Pí pí en de potty! (i went in the potty)
Saca mis zapatos (take off my shoes)
Por favor (please)
Gusto tele, Gusto watch somedin (i want to watch something on tv)
Corta cinta (cut this tape for me)
Gusto pintar (i want to paint)
Gusto manky (i like my blanket)
Hay hormigas (there are ants)
Eso es roto (this is broken)
Tienes llaves (do you have the keys)
Tengo picas (i have bug bites)
Aqui estory (here i am)
Gusto jugo (i like juice)
Quien es esos (what are these)
Otro ... (other)
brazo, brazo (hug, hug)
Gusto eat (i'm hungry)

A lot right now revolves around liking something or not liking something - liking television or puzzles and not liking putting on clothes :)  Can't blame the kid - it's pretty darn hot still.

We will add some more later.

Eat, Hike, and Eat Some More

Luisa at the Parque Natural

Boat ride on the lake - saw fresh water dolphins!

Luisa and Ruby making tortillas

Leigh and Luisa at Granja Heidi, our favorite restaurant in Cuzco

View from Machu Picchu

Machu Picchu

Machu Picchu

Just a friend along the trail

View from the Sun Gate

Art exhibit in Cuzco

Q'oricancha in Cuzco

Our close friend from Austin, Luisa, came to visit us and get this… she was even willing to come to Pucallpa.  Pucallpa is not for the faint of heart and if not for the few researchers, NGO’s, or missionaries it is quite rare to see an American here.   Luckily, Luisa has travelled and lived extensively in Latin America and she has recently been to Haiti to perform relief work as a registered nurse.  So Pucallpa was definitely a step up from Haiti where people were living in tents Everywhere there was a spare speck of land.  She took the whole frontier city visit in stride and we enjoyed showing her the Jungla, Yarinacocha Lake, Parque Natural, Mundo Feliz, my exercise class and our new favorite pool.  We had several visits to our favorite home-made ice cream place and she came to see the kid’s school.  She basically got a slice of our life in the jungle and we were Thrilled to have her.

And the good times continued as she and I took a much anticipated girl’s trip to Cuzco for a few days.  Granted I’ve had little variety in food in Pucallpa, but to me the food in Cuzco was some of the best I’ve ever had!  We did more eating, shopping and sleeping than anything else but managed to get in a tour of the Cathedral, Q'oricancha, Sacsayhuaman ruins and of course, Machu Picchu.  We kept everything at a nice leisurely pace – which is pretty much required when jumping to 11,000 feet – and I really reveled in the idea of doing things at my own schedule rather than the children’s schedule.  I did, however, think of them constantly and did a lot of research for our Thanksgiving trip where I will go back with my family and meet up with my sister’s family.

Cuzco is an incredible place – there seems to be a relaxed pace of life in a quaint, colonial city enhanced by the mountain setting, artist community and friendly people.  I feel like the most miraculous thing is the way they gracefully absorb the huge number of tourists from all over the world.  There seems to be pretty strict control over the signage and the external appearance of the buildings in the center, wisely maintaining the city’s aesthetics.  Staying in San Blas is perfection because it had everything you need without feeling tourist-manipulated.  We could walk down the street to the bakery, a plethora of shops, and countless restaurants and bars.   Our ‘hostal’ was lovely, friendly, comfortable, clean, with hot water and breakfast for $18/night.  I really can’t figure out a way you can beat that.

Food deserves its own special paragraph.  I could go on and on but will just suffice it to say that my body was extremely happy to soak in all the nutrients and flavor.  Our favorite restaurant was a casual place called Granja Heidi.  They grow their own food and raise their own cows – and they have an incredible knack for putting flavors together.  They have a menu of the day that is a 4 course meal including drink for about $7.  After we went there the first day we told the waitress that we would be back every day of our trip.  She thought we were joking.  We did manage to mix in a few other places though and Cicciolina’s grilled vegetable sandwich and gnocchi have a special place in my heart.  There was also a casual Aussie joint that gave us a good brunch/smoothie fix.  I can’t wait to go back for the food alone.

But there was also Machu Picchu.  You can see the pictures and you can appreciate the ingenuity and engineering prowess of the Incas from books, but until you go to the Lost City itself, you can’t experience how special it is.  With the natural setting of the perch atop breath-taking, green peaks it is easy to see why so many people go there specifically for a spiritual journey or find one without even looking.  We took a 1 hour hike to the sun gate which is the point at which the people who have hiked the Inca Trail for 4 days get to see Machu Picchu for the first time.  I loved being able to spy their expressions and was certain they appreciated it more than I after having worked so hard to get to that there.  Other favorite moments were randomly running into Alpaca’s on the trail and temporarily feeling a part of the international jet set.  I enjoyed talking with different folks on the trains/planes from Japan, England, Germany, Norway to name a few.  Always something to be learned - best place to travel in Asia is Korea, parts of Norway have no sun in winter and no darkness in summer.  It seemed quite common for Europeans aged 50-60 to take long trekking trips in the area.  I couldn’t help but notice a lot of folks wait until they retire to take this type of trip – that makes sense on some levels but the altitude and climbing are difficult so to get the full experience I hope people choose to do it sooner rather than later.  And to quote everything I’ve ever read on the subject – Machu Picchu does not disappoint.

There's excess and then there's excess

Ruby and the birthday girl

Cake table

Huge slide the kids loved

Confetti, clowns, balloons (imagine ear splitting dj music also)

Sorry for the lack of posts lately.  A lot has been going on so I will start where I left off.  First off I thought Americans had a strangle hold on overly extravagant birthday parties for children before coming here.  Boy, was I wrong.  Ruby was invited to a classmate’s birthday party so she and I went expecting juice and cake and fun times.  What we got was a 3 story slide rented and inflated in the backyard, which is the exact same model as the one at the local amusement park.  Also 3 cakes, a piñata, a dj, 3 clowns (1 on stilts), confetti, balloons (with the child’s picture on them), masks, ties, other balloons, noisemakers, food, drinks – basically a complete spectacle.

We arrived at this function about my usual 20-30 minutes late, according to the time on the invitation.  In the States, we customarily miss about half the party.  Here on Peru time, we were the first ones there…by far.  Some might find it awkward to sit around and make small talk in my ever-improving Spanish with people I had just met.  But I found it to be a huge bonus to be able to watch the entire production being put together.  We watched the elaborate cake table being set up.  We watched the 2 ton slide being unloaded by 10 men and blown up.  Plus the clown’s arrival and balloon blow-up project.  As people gradually arrived the numbers grew to 100 people, including probably 40 kids.  An incredible time was had by all and I enjoyed getting to know some of Ruby’s classmates parents better.  A few of them definitely took me under their wing and were gracious enough to speak slowly and repeat things several times to compensate for their blaring dj music, that confounds the fledgling Spanish speaker.   

After 4 hours we were completely spent, even though I could tell the party was going to go on well into the night.  "Oh wait - on your way out don't forget your bouncy ball and toys to go along with your balloons and other toys you'd been given"... what we came with and what we left with were kind of embarrassing.  Chalk that one up to learning the ropes.  We started to hail a motocarro when one of our new friends pulled up and offered us a ride, even though they were going in the completely opposite direction.  It was so generous and kind, it made all the struggles with the language worth it and speaks to the warmth of the Peruvians.

It doesn't get any more feliz than Mundo Feliz

Dance performance we stumbled upon downtown on date night

Bouncing fun at Mundo Feliz

Ferris wheel

Ferris wheel

gargantuan slide

The faces behind the dancing characters

This weekend we devoted to getting out of the house.  The walls are closing in a little bit with being home the majority of the time. And the kid's Spring Break (yep, spring in the southern hemisphere) amplifies that a few fold.  We went to two different pools Saturday and Sunday, snuck in Another date night, and most exciting of alllll (...if under 6) was hitting the Mundo Feliz amusement park!  For those following along at home, this is not the mini version we went to a few months ago, this is the version in a different part of town with even larger safety-suspect rides for the kids to enjoy.  To our kids, this place is more fun than monkeys in a barrel.

unicorns made us less feliz

And while the trampoline with all of the balls did actually look super enjoyable, some of the other rides like the caterpillar and unicorns gave even our kids the ho-hums.  So you can imagine what it is like for the parents.  David observantly pointed out that for someplace called Mundo Feliz, the parents really looked a Lot less than feliz.  Maybe they are thinking about the $1 they just spent to send their kid careening around on decades old, rusty, space alien device where the carnies make little pretense of concern for your child's well being. 

caterpillar crept along

All cynicism aside, I admit to feeling a little moment of zen there seeing Ruby come down the ginormous slide - in that instant she was utterly free and wholly happy.  It is amazing when we love people so much that we can actually feel what they feel.  Although..., it goes both ways and when I let Felix ill advisedly give it a try, I felt his same alarm and terror as his feet took off before he had a chance to sit down and he ended up running down the thing in about 3 large steps and a Starsky and Hutch triple roll.  He laughed it off but only went up 2 more times to Ruby's 30.

Edith - part savior, part survival

Edith

Jumping rope with the kids

Playing at the pool

It seems strange that Edith is such a huge part of our lives and is not in more of our pictures – she’s pretty camera shy but I have snuck a few in here and there.  I find her life fascinating and we have definitely all grown closer over the last few weeks.  Coincidence that Ruby and I’s Spanish has also showed signs of improvement these last few weeks?  I think not.  Knowing another language breaks down a huge a barrier.  I am constantly reminded of communication being the most important part of any relationship, even when you speak the same language.  When the language is different, it is hard to get very far.  It is particularly painful not to be able to crack jokes or make light of situations, which we find ourselves in Many ridiculous ones here.

Edith has always been enamored with Felix, not hard.  She never really took a shine to Ruby but I was attributing that to some issues with women in her own family.  Now they have bonded though and it is so wonderful to see.  Edith told me yesterday she is going to miss us all so much when we leave.   The feeling is mutual.  She has been an indelible part of our survival here.

She has a very difficult job, taking care of us.  She works for another couple as well (who hooked her up with us), but just for a few hours in the morning.  Then she comes here and her plate is full from about noon until 7 or 8pm.  The environment we live in is so hot and dusty that there is no such thing as re-wearing clothes before washing them.  Adults go through one or two outfits a day and kids go through 3 minimum.  (I will not go into any sort of detail about Felix’s potty training here.)  We did buy a laundry machine for washing but I notice she prefers to wash by hand a lot anyway.  And everything is hung dry, of course.  She also irons the kids' school uniforms (standard practice) and David’s clothes.  So laundry alone is a mountain.  But then the dust also creates a film over everything Daily.  She dusts and cleans the floor every day.  She also grocery shops, cooks lunch and does the dishes.  If there is any extra time she is mending something, cleaning up after the children, or fighting off the constant prospect of an ant invasion.  If a sweet crumb is left on the floor more than a few minutes, you can expect their arrival.  

It makes me tired just thinking about all she does!  But she doesn’t seem to mind and considers herself lucky to have a good gig with us.  She enjoys the children, although is realistically too busy to spend very much time with them.  She put herself through nursing technician school while working full time.  That is a lot of ambition for a place that is generally content with the status quo.  (She is working for us as a favor to our friends before she gets a nursing gig.)  But yet, I feel like she has given up on the dream to have a family even though she seems she wants one.  And since family is so paramount here, it almost seems she has also given up on everything else for herself.  Don’t get me wrong she’s not a particularly morose person.  In fact, she has quite an easy laugh.  But for someone aged thirty, there is a disappointed resignation to her personality.  Having never been in her shoes or her culture, I don’t understand.  My curiosity is yet another reason to get cracking on my Spanish skills.  I would like to gain more insight.

And you might ask yourself, what exactly are you and David doing if Edith is doing all of that?  Well, apart from our work (which we do more of here than at home), we are spending time with the children.  Which is nice – I never have the guilty feeling that we are not spending enough time with the kids here!  When I get off work I am completely available to spend time with them until they go to bed.  Which they need more here – we can’t just send them out to play outside, we can’t just go to a nice playground carefree, we can’t just pack them in the car to go shopping.  In fact, I find myself wondering if there is actually anywhere out of the house we can take them that is relaxing at all?  The pool is the closest thing – but even there Felix is constantly clinging to one of us and I worry about his overwhelming desire to drink the pool water.   David and I are also dealing with the myriad of problems we encounter – mainly internet connections but also electricity outages, leaking roof, faulty equipment, insects, electrical issues within the house, and most recently a bunch of travel plans.

Downtown there are a lot of just random holes in the sidewalk.  I often chuckle thinking about what would happen in the States –

1. Someone would complain loudly ‘Why isn’t anyone doing anything about this?  My child could fall in that hole!’ 
2. Others would agree.
3. They would complain to the city. 
4. A committee would be formed. 
5. Politicians would be lobbied. 
6. And start to use hole-filling in their campaigns.
7. Press would follow the story. 
8. The holes would be filled by city workers.
9. A plan would be set in place to ensure someone has responsibility for any future holes.

Here, they don’t even get to step 1.  They step around the hole.

Election Day

Today is election day in Peru. We don't watch local tv or read the local newspaper very often, but I can say there has been an incredible amount of signage involved (and signage destruction by rivals). I find it fascinating that people are required to vote by law. That seems like a great way to get a representation of the people's voice. Also interesting that there is no alcohol sold or served the day before the election to the day after. Seems like a smart way to keep a damper on things. Safe to say there is still a fair amount of corruption seeing as the lead candidate is currently in jail in Lima for drug running...

As for the more mundane life details, we've had a good weekend. Yesterday we went to a pool and ran into a large group of American missionaries. One woman was particularly friendly and I got to ask her a lot of questions about her last 10 years in Peru. Yesterday afternoon we had Ruby's best friend over with her family for a visit. It was great fun and the added bonus that her mom is Felix's teacher led to a lot of funny stories about Felix at school. And little tidbits like the fact that he has NEVER eaten anything we've packed him for lunch. But they all share and he eats other kid's hard boiled eggs --- what? i've never seen the kid eat any kind of egg in his life. We got a good laugh out of that. Why don't we always get to socialize with our kid's teachers? David, having been a teacher, assures me it is because teachers don't want to after dealing with kids all week. oh, and some parents are crazy. but not us, right?

Miss Rosita and her sweet family

Last night we even snuck in a date night to a nice restaurant that specializes in smoked meats and then out for some ice cream - first date night in two months. Today the temperature dropped 30 degrees! SOOOO welcome. Yesterday it was 100 and today it is in the low 70's. Today we went for an adventure and met a man who offered us mangoes (he lives under a huge mango tree and they would have gone to waste). Then he proceeded to wash them for us and give david a knife. The kids LOVED them, very delicious. Then we headed downtown in the semi rain just to get out of the house and get some exercise for the kids. 3 naps later (ruby mind-melded with the tv) and all is well. Except for the part about Felix potty training, poor guy doesn't quite get it but the diapers are just too bloody hot.

Canoe Paddler tree

The highlight of my weekend (sorry date night) was playing frisbee with Ruby 2 on 2 with some neighborhood kids. I play with the neighborhood kids every so often but have never been able to get her on the pitch. Today, as my cohorts played Regionals in Austin, Ruby and I scored our first point together - it was pure, full-circle, parenting magic!